Winter Soldier's Soulmate
by Her11
Summary: The winter soldier is trying his best to figure out who he is after running away from Hydra. He thinks he's doing ok staying hidden until he hears a scream in the apartment building that he's squatting in. Somehow he can't ignore it. He runs to the rescue of an average girl who has a soul mark that makes his head hurt with buried memories. Now they are on the run together.
1. Chapter 1

The soldier stared through the scope at the approaching three individuals. He checked on the fourth member of their group on the roof opposite him. Their sniper wasn't that skilled since he hadn't noticed. They were an amateur group at best. The apartment building he had been squatting in was small and run down. The neighborhood wasn't the safest, but the soldier didn't mind. He didn't need much to survive. Or to hide. The men moved in a synchronized pattern as they entered the building. The Soldier watched the sniper, but he wasn't looking at the apartment he was using. Instead, the man was focused on a different window. The Soldier removed himself from the roof and made his way back into the building. He considered intervening but what would be the point? He moved his way through the building on silent feet with his sniper bag slung over his right shoulder. He was headed for his room when a scream stopped him in his tracks.

The sound went straight to his gut. His feet turned him without him even making the decision. He was racing down the hallway and entering the apartment with the busted door on silent feet. He elbowed the first assailant in the face sending the man's neck snapping back with a sickening crunch. The second man was a little harder only because he turned with a gun in his hand and fired before the Soldier could move in. He deflected the bullet with his metal arm; and grabbed the man's throat with his left hand, squeezing ruthlessly, crushing the man's windpipe without a second thought.

The final man held the woman who had screamed to his front with a gun pointed at the soldier. The soldier stalked forward wanting to push the man to step back and get away from the window so the sniper wouldn't be able to see the female target any longer. It worked after the assailant tried shooting the soldier six times with no effect. He watched indifferently as fear entered the man's eyes as he backed away with the woman still clutched to his chest. Self-preservation kicked in as the man pointed the gun at the woman's head. The man started shouting while the woman cried, but the soldier didn't bother trying to decipher what the man said. It didn't matter. He heard the click of the gun as the man pulled the trigger. The woman flinched. The gun didn't fire. The soldier almost smirked at the look of shock on the assailants face. He should have been counting his bullets. The soldier grabbed the gun and tossed it across the room then grabbed the man by the throat. The amateur let go of the woman and scrabbled at the soldier's hand with desperate movements. The soldier lifted the man off his feet and casually tossed him out the window breaking it in the process. The sniper fired a single shot. It hit the man who bled out as he plummeted to the street below. The soldier made sure to stay down out of sight of the sniper.

The soldier looked behind him at the woman who had moved; she now crouched in the corner in fear. He focused back on the sniper. The soldier was able to reach over and close the blinds before grabbing the woman by the upper arm and pulling her to her feet. He kept her close to his side as he moved them through the apartment and out into the hallway, making sure to stay between her and the windows just in case. He kept hold of her as he grabbed his rifle bag and made his way up the stairs to another empty apartment he had considered using before deciding on the other one. It had, had a better defensive positioning, as well as a better view.

The woman was saying something, but the soldier didn't bother to pay attention. It wouldn't help him defend her any better than he already was, so there was no point in listening. He broke the door handle with a twist of his left hand on the doorknob, snapping the lock. He shoved the door open with his shoulder breaking the door jam to get around the deadbolt.

He moved silently into the empty apartment, closing the door behind them both to keep the light out. He dragged the woman over to the window and pulled the woman down into a crouching position beside him while he looked out of the window. He spotted the sniper hastily breaking down his rifle. If he was quick, he could catch the guy on the roof. If not he would nail him as he left the building. He let go of the woman after looking at her sternly so she would stay put. She shrunk away from him and curled her arms around her legs as she cowered into the wall. The soldier didn't have time to focus on her; he needed to get rid of the threat first. He opened the window, unzipped his sniper bag and pulled out his rifle. He put the sniper rifle together with sure fingers, and without much thought. He watched the man as he hurried to finish packing up his gear. He placed the weapon against his shoulder, took a deep breath to center himself, and focused his eye through the scope at the other sniper. The man was running across the roof his back to the soldier. He was lucky the top of the other building was lower than the apartment they were in; otherwise, he would have lost the man. He aimed, took one more breath then shot.

He didn't bother watching as his shot landed squarely in the middle of the back of the man's head. He broke down the rifle, put it back in the bag, zipped it up. Grabbed the woman's upper arm again and moved them out of the apartment and towards his own. He had left it unlocked. He slipped in with the woman stumbling behind him. He shoved her on the couch as he moved around the room. He made sure all his blinds were closed, the door was locked and deadbolted. The soldier made sure the trap was wired for the front door.

Once the soldier felt like his home base was secure, he allowed himself to relax a little. He finally let himself focus on the female. She was an average thing: average height, body type, with brown hair and brown eyes. She wouldn't stick out in a crowd. She was wearing a thin tank top and tiny shorts that barely covered her rear let alone any leg.

She shivered, the Soldier wasn't sure if it was from cold, or fear. He looked her over for injuries; he didn't see much except a bruise forming on her right upper arm where he had grabbed her and another forming around her neck in the shape of fingertips that made him growl. He didn't know why the mark around her neck bothered him so much, just that it did.

He stalked closer to her on silent feet. He noticed a dark smudge on the inside of her left thigh that drew his attention. He moved into her space ignoring the sounds she made in protest. He grabbed her knees and forced them apart so he could get a closer look at the mark.

He crouched down in front of her and leaned in to read the words. It was a name, _James Buchanan Barnes. _He moved his right hand down from her left knee onto her inner thigh. The name looked so familiar to him; he traced the letters with a light touch.

The woman whimpered. He looked up at her face and saw her biting at her lip and looking at him with wide, blown pupils. He let go of the woman and moved back almost stumbling; there was something about this woman that made him uneasy.

He couldn't stop thinking about that mark on her inner thigh, so close to her folds. It was hidden again since she had drawn her legs up once more to cover herself and make herself appear smaller. The soldier paced the room, considering his next options. She was obviously in danger meaning this place had been compromised. He needed to move them and soon. He looked at her and said stay in English; then he made his way in the bedroom to grab his bag. It had everything in it all ready to go. There wasn't much else he needed. Most of his weapons were strapped to his body and the ones that weren't, were easy to grab. He pulled the one gun out from where it was taped to the side of his nightstand between the bed and the nightstand. He moved into the kitchen where he could see the woman still shivering on the couch, due to the open floor plan. He pulled the knife from underneath the kitchen cabinet, then moved into the living room to grab the remaining taser from underneath the coffee table. He hadn't bothered scattering more than those three weapons because he was usually armed to the teeth anyway. These three were just precautionary.

He didn't bother to undo the traps he had set on all the window; it would just be another distraction for when whoever was chasing her combed this place. He looked over at the shivering waif, noticing, for the first time, she wasn't wearing any shoes and not much clothing. That couldn't be helped he didn't trust going into her apartment, but he thought he had a spare long-sleeve shirt she could borrow until he felt they were safe enough to get her something else.

He grabbed his clothes bag, dug around inside until he spotted the worn grey shirt. He tossed it to her and grunted when she just stared at the fabric.

"Put it on," he growled in English. He was in the U.S, so he assumed everyone spoke English here. They may have to leave the country, though he was hoping not. He had questions that needed answering, and those were in New York. The Dallas weather was warm enough for March that he wasn't too worried about her being too cold, but the farther north they went, the colder it would get.

He watched expressionlessly as she fumbled the garment over her head. Once she had pulled it on, he grabbed her wrist in a gentle grip and tugged her towards the door. He undid the trap with sure fingers, slung his two bags over his shoulder, the rifle bag, and his travel bag. Then made his way down the hall to the stairs with the woman in tow. She hadn't spoken since he had dragged her out of his apartment and he was grateful for her silence. It allowed him to concentrate on keeping them safe and listening for any dangers to either of them without being distracted.

They made their way down the stairs and to the main foyer of the building. It looked shabby and beat up, but the soldier paid it no mind. He dragged the woman to the front door then stopped so he could scan the street before putting them both out into the open. He was careful in his scanning efforts watching the city street with unblinking eyes. It may be one in the morning, but that didn't mean people couldn't be out and about. He didn't want to put innocent bystanders at risk if he could help it.

He waited a solid five minutes in which the street remained quiet. The silence was peaceful, but the soldier was still on full alert. He grabbed the woman closer and swung her up into a fireman's carry causing her to squeak as he exited the building quickly and made his way to the stolen vehicle he had purchased back in California. It was an average black SUV with darkly tinted windows. It currently had Illinois plates. The soldier opened the passenger side door, stuffing the woman inside before swinging around the hood and hopping into the front. He tossed his two bags gently onto the back seat, started the engine of the car and headed east out of the city.

He stayed on high alert throughout the time they traveled through the city. The soldier looked over at the woman every now and again to see her eyes slowly droop, and her head start to lean against the window. Her breathing had changed to that of sleep by the time they had left the city and made it onto interstate 20 headed east. They stayed on the interstate for roughly ten miles before he got off and did some backtracking. He then continued east through back roads until he reached a secluded spot where he could park the vehicle on a dirt road surrounded by trees somewhere in Louisiana. He had only stopped for gas once and paid in cash. He wanted to make sure they had a full tank if needed. He didn't want to use the backup gasoline he had in two jugs in the back of the car if he didn't have to just yet.

The woman was sleeping restlessly shivering and whimpering. The soldier wasn't sure how to fix it. He didn't have much in the way of comfortable things. But he did have a few blankets in the trunk from the winter. He got out of the vehicle and opened up the back so he could put the middle seats down and create a bed of sorts.

He made his way to the front passenger side opening the door carefully so he could support the girl while she slept. He reached in and picked up the woman bridal style. He carried her carefully, maneuvering her, so she was lying across the makeshift bed he had made with the almost empty trunk and folded down seats. He laid himself down beside her and wrapped her in blankets.

Her shivering continued. The soldier pulled her closer so that she was lying against him with her head pillowed on his chest. Her shivering finally stopped, and her breathing evened out into a deeper sleep.

The soldier stared at the ceiling of the car in confusion. He couldn't explain his actions. Why the hell did he care if this woman was in danger or not? And why was that name on her inner thigh so familiar to him. The whole situation reminded him of that man he had pulled out of the river some months ago. That's when he had gone rogue. Thinking about that man made his head hurt, so he didn't like to do it very often. But sometimes late at night like it was now, his thoughts would slip in that direction. Those blue eyes and blonde hair, they were like the name, so familiar yet so out of reach.

The soldier finally allowed himself to doze, careful to not go too far under so he could still listen for any danger that could approach.

Lucy Elliot stirred, slowly coming back to herself. Her throat hurt, making it hard to draw in a breath. She moved carefully trying to figure out what woke her up. She opened her eyes blearily to see a broad chest and muscled arm in her vision.

She jerked back, sitting up. The blankets fell off her shoulder making her shiver. She pulled them back up and stared at the man lying in front of her. He had dark hair that fell into his eyes, a chiseled jawline covered in scruff, and a soft mouth that seemed to hold a perpetual snarl.

Lucy looked at her surroundings and noticed they were in a car in the back. It all started coming back to her. She would have groaned except she was terrified of waking this dangerous man up. She had watched as he had killed or seriously wounded three men with his bare hands, then shoot a sniper rifle out the window with enough casual finesse that she was sure he had killed another.

He didn't talk much, nor did he seem to understand the boundaries of social norms from the way he had manhandled her. Lucy hadn't despised his touch though, which said something. She had always had good instincts for people, And her gut was telling her she was safe with him.

The other men, however, she was kind of glad they were gone. Each one of them had made her skin crawl, and bile fill her mouth.

Besides the fear and adrenaline, Lucy just felt confused. What the hell was going on. She had gotten her mark two weeks ago at the age of 21 which was late by many people's standards but not unheard of. She had proudly made her way down to the courthouse, skipping classes to present her mark so it could be recorded in the records like everyone else. She was now considered a full-fledged member of society and a full-grown woman. She was so proud, but then weird things had started happening. She felt eyes constantly watching her even though she couldn't see anyone. A few times she had been followed when walking down the street and now this? It was all too much.

It had to have something to do with her mark. Her soul mate James Barnes would have a lot of explaining to do once she finally found him. What other reason would alter her life so much in such a short amount of time?

Now here she was in the back of a vehicle god knows where with a mad man. Could it get any worse? Lucy looked down at herself, remembering she was wearing booty shorts, cotton panties, a see-through tank top, and one of the mad man's long sleeve shirts. She had no other clothes, no form of I.D, no money, and no answers. She was so totally screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

The soldier watched the woman curiously as she assessed her surroundings. He had known the second she awoke but had not wanted to frighten her by moving. He wasn't sure why it was so important that he didn't scare her, just that it was. He didn't bother trying to decipher the emotion. That always led to a headache, and very occasionally flashbacks. The flashbacks, however, were usually blurry, and unhelpful just leaving the soldier drained and with more questions.

He slowly sat up catching the woman's attention as she backed up, pressing herself against the side of the vehicle. She said something, but it took the soldier a second to click in on actually listening and understanding what she was saying.

"Who are you?" she had asked. The soldier didn't have an answer for her, so he just shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Where are we?" that one was easier.

"Somewhere in rural northern Louisiana." His voice came out scratchy from lack of use. He didn't talk to people very often. He found it much simpler to communicate through actions rather than words.

"What are we doing here?"

The soldier thought about that one for a minute before answering. "Staying safe."

"How long are we staying here? I want to go home." She seemed to be getting more and more upset with each question.

"Not long. You can't go home. Home is not safe." He was growling now. She would be in danger if she went home. He couldn't allow that. He needed to keep her safe.

She was silent for a few minutes staring down at the blankets wrapped around her.

"Where are we going?" She finally asked in a weak voice.

"New York."

"Why? What's in New York?" She looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

"Answers," he replied gruffly before getting out of the car and hopping into the driver's seat.

He could just see the light of dawn sneaking in; meaning they needed to get back on the road. He started the engine with her still huddled in the back, covered in blankets. He turned on the heat and aimed vents her way, hoping to help warm her up. She needed clothes and a fake I.D.

He would stop somewhere in Mississippi at a Target or Walmart. But for now, he was itching to get moving again, being in one place like this, after last night made him nervous.

He made his way onto Interstate 20 headed east. It wasn't as safe as being on the back roads, but he wanted to put some miles between them and Dallas while being inconspicuous as possible. It was much easier to go 80 miles-per-hour on the interstate than on a back road highway.

She stayed silent and in the back for the first two hours. The soldier didn't mind. He liked the quiet. It gave him time to plan. The group was just amateur enough that they probably had a good day or two's head start from them. The soldier's main concern was Hydra picking up on where he was. Once they reached Georgia, they could disappear for a few days and check to see if anyone had picked up on their trail.

He heard her clear her throat from behind him. He looked in his rearview mirror to meet her eyes.

"I need to use the bathroom." she practically whimpered. He looked more closely to see her fidgeting uncomfortably.

He nodded his head to show he had heard her. He pulled off the interstate around Delhi Louisiana. He spotted a dollar general and pulled in.

"Stay here. I'm going to get you some shoes." She nodded still squirming.

"I wear size 7s."

He nodded grabbed a ball cap and a pair of sunglasses from his glove compartment. Made sure most of his weapons were hidden and made his way inside. He found some flip flops for a dollar, paid for them and quickly returned. He tossed them to her before pulling out and stopped at the Chevron just down the street that had an outdoor bathroom. He parked the car, and before he could move, she was out the door and sprinting for the bathroom. He moved almost as quickly to flank her. She was in the bathroom, closing and locking the door in a blink. He waited patiently outside while she used the necessity.

He clocked the area with his sweeping gaze. It was around nine thirty in the morning, so it was relatively busy with commuters stopping for gas on their way to work. He saw a few families leave, while a few more pulled up. He heard the tell-tale sign of the door unlocking behind him, and he turned to meet the woman's eyes. He led her back to the car, which still had three-quarters of a tank. She climbed in the passenger seat closing the door behind her.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

He nodded his head in response. He pulled back onto the interstate headed east towards Georgia. He saw her in the corner of his eye snatching glances at him.

"My name's Lucy by the way." She said.

A shiver ran down the soldier's spine at the sound of her name. His eyes lost focus, the only thing that kept him from running the car off the road was his inhuman reflexes and his need to keep her safe. He would probably be able to walk away from an eighty mile-per-hour crash but she wouldn't.

The name Lucy jarred something in him, and he staved off the flashback by shoving back all his emotions and focusing on just being a soldier. He had done it enough times over the last 70 years. It helped keep him away from the chair. Every time he tried to remember they would shove him in the chair, so he stopped bothering to remember.

He pulled off at the next exit and drove blindly down the road until he found a pull off point where he could stop the car without putting the woma-Lucy at risk. He shoved the door open and bent over his knees breathing hard. He finally allowed himself to feel all those emotions in a relatively safe place. He let his mind to be dragged back:

"_Hey, Bucky you gonna show me or what?"_

_A small boy stood in front of him with brilliant blue eyes and blond hair. He looked like a single strong gust could send him keeling over backward. He heard himself chuckle_

"_Cool it Punk. It's in a personal place I don't show off all that much." He said to the boy_

"_Jerk. Come on Buck. You got your's before mine I wanna see." There was a whining note that had entered the kid's tone._

_He heard himself sigh then looked down to lift his shirt and pull his pants down ever so slightly to reveal a mark. A name. It was right above his penis between his obleks and could be hidden mostly by the waistband of his pants. He couldn't make out what it said just that it was there and he knew it was a name._

_He looked up to see the kid staring at it in awe. Th_e _kid opened his mouth to speak_

Bucky was jerked back to the present by a hand on his right shoulder. From his bent over position, he looked up to see Lucy staring at him with worry in her eyes. He stumbled to the left away from her touch. He frantically lifted his shirt and pushed down his pants enough to stare at where the mark had been in his flashback. Where the mark had been, there was now a jagged scar cut into his flesh that obscured it. He could see the dark smudges that hinted at a name but were now unreadable. They had stolen his mark. Ripped the name of his soul mate from him and buried it in pain and scars. He was broken.

He heard a gasp and looked up to see Lucy covering her mouth with shock.

"How… how did this happen?" She almost whispered.

The soldier just shook his head and recovered his skin. He had forgotten that they had stolen his soul mate's mark from him, and then they had tortured him with the chair until he forgot his soul mate's name. They had destroyed not just his mind and body but also his soul.

He couldn't take all these emotions he had to shut them off. He flipped the switch in his brain and allowed the soldier to take full control of his mind once more, burying the man he once was back down. It was too painful.

He focused back on the crucial things. They needed to get out of here. He had to protect Lucy. Answers could wait until they reached New York.

He looked over at Lucy and gestured for her to get back in the car so they could be back on the road. She climbed in, and he got them back on the interstate. About ten minutes after they had gotten on the interstate Lucy reached over and fiddled with the radio.

Soon he could hear the sounds of music filling the car. He grunted in surprise when she started to sing along.

"But this ain't my first rodeo someone's gonna get hurt-"

She looked over at his expression and grinned. She reached over and turned down the dial to the music.

"Bucked off by Brad Paisley," she said as if that was an explanation.

He grunted back.

"I'm guessing you don't listen to country." She said.

"I don't listen to music." He replied.

She looked at him aghast, then started sputtering "but-but music is wonderful, how could you not?"

He shrugged again. "I wasn't allowed to. It would distract from the mission, so I don't."

"Allowed by who?" She asked curiosity entering her voice.

"My handlers."

"Well, are you on a mission now?"

The soldier had to think about that one. Yes, he was on a mission. But not one that had been assigned to by any handler. He had left that life behind, but it was still hard to think about that. It had only been three months.

"No" he finally replied.

"Great." He glanced over to see her beaming at him.

She turned the radio back up and started singing along again but to a different song.

He listened to her voice. She sang slightly off-key, but her voice was still beautiful and captivating. It helped pass the time. She sang along for the next thirty minutes before she turned the radio down once more and glanced over at him.

He met her eyes before flicking them back to the road.

"Do you have a favorite genre of music?"

He grunted back.

"You should. Let's find you one. I'll keep switching the stations until you hear something you like."

She turned the radio up and started flipping while she talked.

"I was listening to country, this station sounds like pop."

The soldier listened for a second before shaking his head. He didn't like the sounds. She flipped it again.

"Oh, this is gospel."

He shook his head almost immediately. He didn't want anything church-related. He didn't deserve it.

The station changed again. The lilting sound of flutes and other wind instruments filled the vehicle. It was followed by strong percussion.

He could feel Lucy staring at him, waiting for him to nod or shake his head. He didn't do either just listened. It sounded familiar like something from long ago.

A smile seemed to tug at the corner of his mouth with the familiar sounds. He could almost picture being wrapped in a warm hug in a beat up old apartment that smelled of delicious food and the constant strain of classical music cracking from the radio.

"So you're a classical fan. That's good to know."

He just shrugged. He didn't think he was a fan as much as it was familiar to him. It reminded him of a better time even though the memories were covered in a black haze of pain. The feelings still occasionally came through especially when there was a trigger. This is one of the better triggers, producing a happy thought rather than a knock-down-drag-out flashback, that left him soaked in sweat and shivering.

Lucy left the radio on as they drove the rest of the way to Jackson Mississippi. The made it there around 10:00 A.M.

Once they got there, the soldier made his way to a Walmart so they could pick up some clothes for Lucy and some food for the road. He wanted to get to Georgia and hidden somewhere where he could keep an eye out for anyone following them.

Lucy had fallen asleep at some point in the last thirty minutes. She blinked her eyes open slowly and looked around.

"Sooooo what are we doing in the parking lot of a Walmart?" She asked.

"Supplies," he grunted at her before opening the car door and getting out. She followed sluggishly behind in her booty shorts, flip-flops, and his long sleeve shirt that hid her shorts when she stood up.

When she got up, she tucked the shirt into the front of her shorts, then walked beside him into Walmart.

The soldier hated being around this many people but they needed supplies, and this was the easiest and cheapest way to do it. It was also good to blend into a large crowd when they were in public.

The entered the super Walmart on the grocery side. The soldier placed a hand on the small of Lucy's back and guided her towards women's clothing.

"You need clothes," he said when she gave him a questioning look.

She nodded at him then asked. "What are the limits" The soldier was pleased she didn't argue.

"The minimum you can get by with for three weeks. If we need more, we will stop later. Don't worry about the price. Stay safe, I'm going to get other supplies."

The soldier was loathed to leave Lucy on her own, but he was more concerned about getting out of there as quickly as possible. He made his way around the store picking up camping bedding, toiletries, food, and other little necessities.

In the end, the cart was filled with:

Two sleeping bags

Ground Mat

Two camp pillows

A towel

A washcloth

A toothbrush (for Lucy, he had one stashed in his travel bag)

Toothpaste

A bar of soap

Female supplies (he wasn't sure what to get, so he grabbed a random pack of pads and one of tampons)

Women's deodorant

Canned fruit

Box of granola bars

Water bottles

A soft suitcase

And a 6 pack of toilet paper

He made his way back to the women's clothing section to find Lucy. He located her looking at socks. She had a group of clothing draped over her left arm as she grabbed a pack and turned around almost running into him. He instinctively reached out his hands and grabbed her upper arms to steady her. She made a squeaking noise and looked up at him.

"Oh, it's you." She said relieved. She looked past him to see the cart he had filled with their supplies. "That's a lot of stuff." She finally commented.

He grunted in acknowledgment before grabbing the items out of her arms and tossing them into the cart. He cataloged the items she had grabbed they included:

3 pairs of jeans

5 t-shirts

A sweatshirt

3 pairs of black leggings

2 packs of underwear (6 pairs in each)

4 sports bras

3 pairs of shorts

3 tank tops

A rain jacket

And the bag of socks she had just grabbed (8 pairs)

He nodded his head in satisfaction at her choices. Good clothing for travel. She still needed shoes a winter coat, and a reliable pair of sweatpants wouldn't go amiss. He wasn't sure why he cared so much about her comfort, just that he did. If it was just him, he could get by on one pair of clothing and sleeping on the ground, but he wanted better for her.

He couldn't spoil her, not with them being on the run but he could do better than just the bare minimum.

They moved quickly through the store grabbing her a pair of running shoes, a winter coat and a pair of sweatpants before checking out. He paid with cash and moved them to the car as quickly as possible.

They packed her clothing in the bag, except for a pair of jeans, t-shirt, sports bra, pair of socks, pair of undies, and the running shoes. They didn't have time for her to change now but later down the road they would. They climbed in and got back on the road. They were at half a tank, but that could wait until they were farther down the road. The Walmart had cameras, and he was sure there was facial recognition software searching for his face everywhere, Hydra was relentless. He needed to get them as far away as possible and into a rural area where they could lay low and set up a protective perimeter to catch anyone tracking them.

He got them away from Jackson before backtracking down a side road or two before he got them somewhere in Alabama on a dirt back road before parking the car. In the middle of the woods by a creek.

It was around 7 pm by the time they stopped. About an hour after they had left Walmart, Lucy had fallen asleep. When the soldier turned off the car, the lack of noise must have disturbed her, because she slowly blinked her eyes open and sat up to look around.

"Where are we?" she asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

"Somewhere near the Alabama and Georgia border. I'm not sure which side." He spoke as he rolled his neck to get the kinks out of it after so much driving.

"Soooo I was thinking about this earlier but forgot to ask. Do you have a name or something I should call you by?" Lucy sounded hesitant.

He leaned back and thought about that. All he could remember being called was either the asset, the soldier, or the weapon. None of which he wanted to go by anymore. In the flashback he had had, the kid had called him Bucky. He rolled the name around his brain and sounded it out silently. He liked it. He wasn't sure if it was a nickname he had had or his actual name, but it felt right.

"Bucky." He rasped out finally. "I think I used to go by Bucky."

"Bucky," she repeated slowly testing it out as he had. She finally smiled and nodded. "I like it. It suits you."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he didn't. Instead, he focused on their surroundings and where he would set up some traps. Here was as good a place as any to catch anyone following them.

Bucky got out of the car and moved around it until he could open up the trunk. He pulled out the other bag in the car that he had left there weeks ago. He hadn't needed to use it since moving into the apartment in Dallas, but it looked like he would need to now. He rummaged inside and pulled out the trip wire. He moved about 50 yards away from the car and started laying traps around the area. Some were made to trap while others would just set off a warning. They would only be staying the night, so he wasn't too worried, but he'd preferred to be prepared. There was no one around for miles, meaning it would be challenging for them to sneak in the number of men they would need to take him down.

The whole process took him about thirty minutes, then he headed back to the car and Lucy. He found her sitting in the open trunk with her feet dangling about 4 inches from the ground. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt, but her feet were still bare. She didn't seem to notice him until he was about 3 feet away. She looked up with a blank expression, which was unusual for her. She always seemed so expressive. The blank look was more his thing than hers.

He wasn't sure what to do so he just stood uncertainly about a foot away from her. She gave him a weary smile and patted the trunk next to her. He moved awkwardly toward her and sat beside her causing the whole car to shift under his weight.

He stiffened ever so slightly when she leaned her head against his left shoulder. No one did this. No one actively showed any form of physical contact that did not result in pain. He was used to the pain, knew how to process it. He didn't know how to process this.

"I feel like I don't know you very well Bucky. Can you tell me more about yourself?" She asked quietly.

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just stayed silent. She didn't seem to mind though. Instead, she asked:

"Like how old are you?"

He didn't actually know. He knew he was older than he looked if you ignored the scars riddling his body. But he didn't know how old.

"Old." He finally decided to say.

She snorted. "That's not a good answer. I'm 21."

He stayed silent. He was very confused by this female. She asked about strange things and did strange things. Didn't she realize he was a monster?

"Ok how about an easier one. What's your favorite color?"

That was an odd question to ask. Why did that even matter? Did he even have one? He liked blue.

"Blue, I guess?" He sounded uncertain even to his own ears. He almost wanted to cringe. He used to be better at this. That thought gave him pause. What did he use to be better at? And just like that, he was dragged down into another flashback:

"_Why are you dragging me to this again?" He looked over to see the same blond haired, and blue eyed kid walking beside him kicking a can._

"_You know I need my best wingman Steve." He heard himself say as he put his arm around the kid and pulled him in for a noogy._

_The kid pushed him off and glowered at him._

"_You just want me around Buck so you can have both ladies to yourself."_

_They stopped to stare at each other. The kid had his arm crossed over his chest and was glaring at him._

"_Steve you know just because I'm good with the ladies, doesn't mean I don't want you to find a girl. I'm here for you punk, what'd' ya' say?"_

_The kid unfolded his arms and sighed in defeat. "Jerk," he grumbled then gave a dazzling smile that lit up his old face before punching Bucky and taking off at a sprint while Bucky chased him, laughing._

He slowly came back to himself. He was still sitting on the edge of the open trunk and Lucy was leaning against the arm. She was silent while he shook his head trying to bring himself fully back to the present.

"You were out of it for a little bit there. What's up?" she finally said in a calm, quiet voice that he greatly appreciated at that moment.

"A flashback I think," he said rubbing the thumb and forefinger of his right hand on the bridge of his nose to try and stave off the headache that was building after the flashback.

She hummed then asked. "Tell me about it?"

"It's not really all that interesting." he tried to deflect.

"Tell me anyway?" she asked.

There was no pressure in her voice just curiosity. He sighed deeply but for whatever reason decided to indulge her in this.

"I was with a…. friend I think. I called him Steve. I've seen him before in other flashbacks. Anyways we were talking about a double date I was dragging him to."

"Sounds like a nice memory." She stayed silent for a second before hesitantly forging ahead. "So I've kind of guessed this but just wondered if you could confirm. You don't remember a lot of your life do you?"

He wooshed out a painful breath at her words. "No, I don't,"

They were both quiet, she seemed satisfied with his answer, but he thought she deserved more of an explanation. Again he wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about this, just that he did. His emotions had gone entirely out of control since meeting her. It had been so easy to stuff them down before he heard her scream.

"It's...It's painful to remember, so I don't." He finally said.

"I'm sorry it hurts so much. I wish there was something I could do to make it better." She sounded sleepy.

He looked down to see that her eyes had closed and he head leaned more heavily against his metal arm. That metal arm contained very minimal feeling. Enough to know when something was touching it, but not the texture or how much pressure there was.

He had never wished for more feeling in that arm before now. He wanted to know what she felt like leaned against him. Even with his aversion to physical touch due to the expectation of pain, he knew subconsciously that her touch would never be painful.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity and yet not enough time before she sighed and hopped off the trunk. He reached out and grabbed her before she could take a step though.

"You should be wearing shoes." He said in explanation.

She looked down at her bare feet as if surprised that she wasn't wearing shoes.

"Back home, I walked barefoot everywhere."

"Where is home?" He asked curiously.

"Virginia. You?"

"Brooklyn."

He was surprised at himself, he hadn't known that until she asked but now that he thought about it he could see the streets of Brooklyn as he walked them with Steve. His friend, maybe even his best friend. The rest was still fuzzy. He had done enough soul searching for one day.

"Wait here, let me get you your shoes."

She nodded in acquiescence as he made his way to the passenger side door of the front seat to grab the dollar store flip-flops. He brought them back and handed them to Lucy, she put them on and started walking away from the car.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

She froze, then turned to face him. She was wringing her hands and couldn't meet his eyes. She looked nervous.

"I...I need to go to the bathroom." she finally mumbled.

If it weren't for his advanced hearing, he wouldn't have heard her.

"I'll show you where it's safe. I left traps and here let me grab you some toilet paper."

She gave him a small smile at that. He hurriedly searches through the bags until he was able to open up the toilet paper pack and grab her a role. He handed it to her as well as the flashlight he had tucked in the back too.

He gently grabbed her arm to help guide her so she wouldn't trip about 20 feet from the car and behind a large oak tree. It blocked her view from the car, but that's what she would want. Privacy was important. He understood that probably better than most people. He hadn't privacy for years. Every little thing he did was watched like a hawk. From him using the bathroom, to his assassination shots. He was constantly under surveillance. You learned to tune it out and get over it. But he never wanted that for her. Any humiliation he could spare her he would.

He left her and headed back to the SUV, she didn't need to know that his hearing was acute enough that he could pick up a fox moving through the underbrush thirty feet from them, let alone her movements. He would give her as much privacy as he possibly could while still keeping her safe.

He decided to set up the two sleeping bags in the back of the car with the pillows. He tried to make the makeshift bed look as inviting as possible despite its crudeness and his lack of ideas of what she would like. After that, he checked all his weapons on his body.

The inventory included five guns, nine knives, and two tasers currently. That was good enough, plus his sniper rifle. He grabbed his sniper bag out of the car and slung it over his shoulder. He had already spotted a good tree, that would give him an excellent view of the surrounding area while still keeping him close enough to the car that he could be to it in thirty seconds if need be. It was a little riskier than he liked, but the car was the safest place for her to be since he had changed the windows to bulletproof glass. If they fired a bazooka, the glass wouldn't be able to stop it, but he would hopefully have drawn their fire, and/or killed the person beforehand.

Bucky heard her returning from the old oak. There was a slight spring in her step that hadn't been there before. She beamed at him. He honestly did not understand Lucy at all. He wondered how she could still smile at him after what she had witnessed and what he had put her through over the last two days.

"Thanks," she said when she was within speaking distance.

He grunted at that. He gestured toward the bed he had attempted to make for her. She smiled again, lighting up her eyes.

"Is this for me?" She whispered, sounding almost unbelieving.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak with so much emotion filling the air. The fact that he had been able to make her happy filled him with a warmth that he hadn't remembered feeling for a very long time. Not since before Hydra.

She climbed in, kicking off her flip-flops before she could get any dirt from their bottoms on the sleeping bags. She turned and looked back at him almost expectantly. He cocked his head in question.

"Aren't you coming in too?" She asked unsureness covering her face and evident in her voice.

He shook his head. "I can better protect you from up there." He pointed in the direction of the tree he had in mind.

She looked through the window at it, noticing that the lowest branch was about eight feet off the ground. She then looked back at Bucky.

"But Bucky what about sleep?" She asked.

"Don't need it," He said succinctly. He could go seventy-two hours without sleep. Granted it wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was doable. Twenty-four hours was nothing. Their enemies were much more likely to attack in the dark than they were to attack during the day. As long as he grabbed a cat nap in the morning before they left he would be fine.

She gave him almost exasperated sigh and a look. It reminded him of how another person used to look at him, he just couldn't quite remember who, and now was not a good time to go into flashback mode. He needed his wits about him. Especially with the night encroaching in on them fast.

He closed the back hatch of the car before she could say anything to contradict his decision or statement. Her safety was his top priority, not his health. He locked the car for good measure, then made his way on silent feet to the tree. He leaped with ease grabbing the lowest branch with his metal hand and using his momentum to swing himself up and into the branches. He scurried his way up with ease, finding a suitable perch that gave him an excellent view of the surrounding area.

He unpacked his rifle and put it together, cradling it in his arms like a child. This rifle had gotten him out of more than one tight spot. He trusted it more than he trusted people. Well, maybe not as much as that kid Steve that kept showing up in his memories.

He wondered yet again, why the kid was so important to him. And why that guy who dragged around the shield and was called Captain America drew him like a moth to a flame. He had thought about looking into the guy, but every time he tried thinking about Captain America too much he got a horrible headache that completely incapacitated him as his whole body rebelled from the pain.

He had been able to give himself time to adjust to other things before tackling that issue. But now, it couldn't wait any longer. Not with Lucy. She had moved up his plan by months. He had wanted that time to ease himself into all those painful walls. Instead, he felt like his head was about to be smashed into the wall whether he liked it or not.

He heard movement coming from the left and lifted the rifle up to his shoulder and looked down the scope as he clocked the noise and repositioned himself in the branches. He spotted a herd of deer moving through the trees and grazing as they went. A few of the does' were heavily pregnant, reminding him that spring was right around the corner — not a bad thing.

He remembered liking spring and fall, but not summer or winter. Summer was too hot, and winter was…..

_He was in a bedroom, in a run-down apartment. He looked down at a roughly 10-year-old Steve. He watched as Steve coughed violently, shaking not only his small form but the whole bed. Bucky rubbed a hand along his back while he sat beside the kid. He noticed that Steve was wrapped in a mound of blankets and Bucky's own toes felt numb. He looked out the window to see heavy flakes of snow falling and building up on the apartment building across the alley. It wasn't the best view, but it was the best Steve's mom could afford on her own._

_He felt Steve shiver after the coughing fit, clutching the blankets around himself as tightly as possible._

"_B.. I..I'm s..ss... cold" he heard Steve chatter._

"_I know punk. Hold on." Bucky familiarly pulled the covers back from Steve and climbed under them wrapping his arms around the skinny kid._

_Steve continued to shiver, but he also snuggled into Bucky's arms seeking the older kid's warmth. Bucky held on tight until Steve stopped shaking and his labored breathing, lengthened into that is sleep._

Bucky pulled himself out of the memory and shook his head, trying desperately to clear it. Now was not the time to be having flashbacks and regaining memories. Now it was about keeping Lucy safe.

He closed his eyes, laying his head back against the tree and opened up his other senses. Focusing more on smell and hearing.

His hearing felt like it flowed out to encompass the space. He could hear the rustling of a mother mouse as she returned to her den to feed her hungry babies. A vole was sniffing at a tuner under the ground below his tree. He could hear the faint sound of digging below him.

His sense of smell did the same. He could smell the sweet scent of spring filling the air, a dead kill made by a predator on the wind. The scent was roughly a day old, so the body was probably stored somewhere by a fox or other predator.

He focused his senses back on the clearing, where the car was sitting. He could hear the vehicle rocking every now and again as it groaned ever so slightly. Lucy must be having difficulty getting comfortable.

He almost felt guilty about that, but he needed to shut down those emotions and become the soldier fully. He had one mission: to protect Lucy.

Lucy shifted her body again. She was extremely grateful to Bucky for everything he had done for her, but this wasn't something she was exactly used to. Her family never camped, or really went on vacations for that matter. Her dad was a farmer, and her mother was a nurse. Plus she was the youngest of four.

They didn't really have the money to afford to go on vacations. Not only was she not used to all this, but she was worried about Bucky. He was out all alone in the night sitting in a tree of all things. She had watched him through the window of the car as he flung himself up in the tree with a level of grace that seemed impossible for his bulk.

He definitely couldn't be human, or not fully human, not with that move. But that raised the question of who was he? Lucy shook her head and buried her chin more thoroughly into the sleeping bag. She kept running into more questions than answers.

She thought back to the mark on her inner thigh. She had decided to not look up the name of her soulmate on the internet. She didn't want to have a preconceived notion of who he was as a person before she met him. But now after everything that had happened. It seemed she needed to look it up whether she liked it or not. The only problem, she didn't have access to a computer, phone, or other electronic devices that she could access the internet from.

Maybe they could stop at a library somewhere…

Steve leaned back in his desk chair and rubbed his eyes. His neck felt tight, and it was hard for him to see straight after sitting at the computer for the last two hours. He wasn't fully used to all this technology yet, but that was ok. Sam was supposed to arrive in the next 10 minutes or so to help.

There had been practically no word on Bucky for the last three months. Not since his once best friend had pulled him out of the Potomac.

Steve got up and stretched his large body, working out the kinks. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't had dinner yet. He had been so caught up in research that he had forgotten to eat. This was unusual for him in normal circumstances, but looking for Bucky seemed to always take priority over everything else no matter what.

He heard a knock at his apartment door and quickly headed over to it, pulling it open, allowing Sam to enter.

"Hey man, how's the search?" Sam asked as he slapped Steve on the back.

Steve just shook his head as he closed his apartment door and walked over to flop on the living room couch.

"Well then I'm glad I'm here because I have a lead," Sam said, sounding casual.

Steve's head had been resting against the back of the couch with his eyes closed, but at Sam's words, he snapped upright and leaned forward intently seeing a smug look on Sam's face.

Steve took the time to actually look at Sam. He wore his usual jeans and a nice shirt, but he held a folder in his hands that Steve hadn't noticed before.

"Yea?" Steve asked, on edge with hope.

"Yea, turns out roughly two weeks ago someone registered a new soul mark name."

Steve shrugged, "So? That happens all the time. Why does it matter?"

"Well, the name that was recorded is the interesting part. It was James Buchanan Barnes."

Now Steve understood. He shot up from his seat and started pacing the apartment. He remembered the name Bucky had shown him all those years ago. How could he not? She was the soul mate to his best friend. Lucy Camille Elliot. The registration system was new though. It had been established in the 60s with the civil rights movement. For the civil rights groups, it was a way of showing that whites and blacks were equal. For the anti-civil rights groups, it was a way of finding the people that had racially different soul mates and label them as damaged and lock them up.

Bucky and his soul marks had never been registered. But having Bucky's name show up was definitely an interesting development.

"What do you know about her?" Steve asked as he stopped pacing to lean against the arm of the couch.

Sam flipped open the folder and started reading from it. "Well, it looks like she's 21, getting a degree in psychology and lives in Dallas." Sam stopped speaking.

Steve looked at him and gave a raised eyebrow. Sam cleared his throat, hesitating.

"Tell me," Steve said tensing.

"Well, I did some digging and found out that yesterday night her place was broken into. Two dead bodies were found in it, another was on the sidewalk below the window. It looked like he was tossed out of it. Also on the other side of the street. On the roof of a building was another dead guy. He was shot in the back of the head, and he was carrying a sniper rifle.

"It was big news in Dallas. The neighborhood, she was living in is used to gunshots and what not. Hence why it took so long for anyone to call it in or police to arrive on the scene. No one has seen or heard from her since. She is currently labeled as a missing person's case."

Steve had started pacing again, halfway through Sam talking. "Any evidence that Buck was there?" Steve asked.

"No confirmation, but what little I could get through my contacts, the kills were done be a professional, with a lot of skill and strength. A man's windpipe was crushed by one hand. It could be him, Steve. But I don't want you to get your hopes up. He may not even know that he has a soulmate anymore, not after what Hydra did to him."

Steve nodded, knowing Sam was right. It was just so hard for him to feel helpless. He wanted to help Bucky. He wanted his best friend back.

"I'll ask Stark if I can use the quinjet and we will head to Dallas in the morning. See if we can gather more information on site." Steve paused before plopping back on the couch. "If it is Buck, then she's in safe hands. Whether he knows she's his soulmate or not. No one else can hide as well as he can. He's the master of subterfuge." Steve finished with a sigh.

"But he also would be taking care of Lucy. She doesn't have his skills, making it more likely they would be spotted." Sam added.

"Then we better hope we can get to them before anyone else if that does happen."

Sam nodded before flinging the folder on the coffee table getting up and walking to the apartment door. "I'll see you in the morning Cap," Sam said as he closed the door behind him and headed for his own apartment across the hall in Avengers tower.

Steve picked up the folder that Sam had left him, opening it up. The first thing he saw was a picture of Lucy. She was dressed in a graduation gown and was holding up a diploma to the camera. She was average, brown hair, brown eyes. Nothing spectacular. But on closer inspection, Steve saw a twinkle in her eyes that lit up her smiling face. She looked the picture of innocence and happiness. He liked her, Steve decided.


	3. Chapter 3

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bucky watched as rays of sunshine peeked through the trees. Dawn was always one of his favorite parts of a day on a mission. It was a piece of beauty that he could see that couldn't be stolen from him. They could take his memories, his mind, his body, even his soul. But they couldn't take this away./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Not the art of the natural world. He had grown to truly love nature under Hydra's care. To be out in an open space and not caged underground somewhere like he was most of the time. He had escaped them and had no plans of going back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But they had broken him. The question that remained was was he the kind of broken that could be fixed, or the one you threw in the trash. He had a feeling he might be the latter of the two. So with no way to redemption then why not end it?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the side door of the SUV open and watched as Lucy scurried out of the car, toilet paper in hand. He couldn't help but smile. She was a strange one./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She went behind the same oak as before. Bucky clocked the area making sure there was no threat to her when she was in such a vulnerable position./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He heard her shuffling as she came back from around the tree and headed back to the car. She slowed before she reached and looked up into the tree he was in./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She searched for him; he stayed perfectly still, curious if she would be able to spot him without the help of movement. She was perseverent though and finally did spot him. She waved and motioned toward the car. He gave her a nod. He wasn't sure if she saw it or not, but she turned away and moved back to the car, climbing in./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He checked the area once more, surprised that no one had shown up last night. He didn't believe in luck which meant hydra might have a more elaborate plan they were putting in place./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bucky climbed down with smooth movements, dropping down from the eight foot high lowest branch landing with the quiet grace of a panther./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He moved towards the car with his quiet natural stealth. He opened the back without thinking about it and heard Lucy squeak. He looked at her confused until he realized he could see her bare back. She was facing away from him clutching a blanket to her chest, to cover some of her nudity./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bucky would have blushed, or been embarrassed except for the tattoo that covered her back. He put his knee on the floor of the trunk of the car and leaned forward unthinkingly to trace a finger down one of the folded wings she had on her back. They were angel wings that went from the top of her back all the way down to the dimple just above her ass. They were done in black and white and greys. They were highly detailed and accurate. The muscle definition at the attachment point between and slightly below her shoulder blades was exquisite. The elbow part of the wing was what brushed the top curve of her shoulders. He could almost picture the wings opening using that elbow joint to spread out and lift her aloft. The feathers then trailed down her back in an almost cascading waterfall effect. His fingers followed that waterfall all the way down to the last feather which ended at the curve of her ass./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sound of Lucy clearing her throat pulled Bucky out of his trance. He snatched his hand away as if it had been burned./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I guess you like my tattoo." Her voice was hesitant from nerves at the somewhat awkward situation they were in./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's…" he was at a loss for words./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When she turned to look at his face, he realized his silence had been too long. "It's nice." he finished lamely. He wanted to smack his forehead with his metal palm. What the fuck was that? The tattoo was much better than nice; it was breathtaking. He couldn't figure out how he hadn't noticed it before this moment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thanks," she said after another awkward silence. "I got it when I graduated high school. My parents were very opposed but…..I always thought it would be cool to be able to fly under my own power. Part of that feeling came from not having a soul mark until just a couple weeks ago. It was my way of saying fuck you to the universe. If you don't want to give me a soul mate that's fine, I'll just carry myself."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He nodded in understanding. "It reminds me of a fallen angel." he murmured./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I never thought of myself as one, but I guess with all the trouble I've been causing the last few days, it makes sense."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He grunted before turning his back to her. She deserved as much privacy as he could give while she changed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He heard her shuffling on clothing behind him. He didn't move until she was sitting beside him on the edge of the open trunk. He looked over to see she wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. The casual outfit looked good on her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So what's the plan?" She asked when he remained silent./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Two-hour nap for me then we hit the road. Stay in the car while I sleep; it's safer." She nodded and climbed back in./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Bucky?" She asked tentatively, as he laid himself down in the makeshift bed, after closing the trunk./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He grunted to let her know he was listening. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands over his belly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is there any way we could stop at a library or used book store at some point?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He cracked an eye open and looked at her questioningly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's just kinda boring to be riding in a car all day." She was fidgeting, moving restlessly on her knees, sitting about a foot from him. She had her hands clenched in her lap. She was holding them so tightly that her fingers had gone white./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We will be stopping in Atlanta for some things; we can find a used book store there."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She unclenched her fingers and gave him a relieved smile./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He closed his eye again and resettled himself, instantly dropping into a light doze./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*****br /Lucy watched from her kneeling position by the left side door as Bucky almost immediately fell asleep. It was astounding. She could never do that./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Last night she had tossed and turned the whole night, unable to really get comfortable or block out the idea that they could be attacked at any moment. She had finally fallen asleep due to sheer exhaustion, in the end getting maybe 2 hours of sleep in total./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Lucy rested her head back against the window and looked out at the forest. If this whole thing weren't so terrifying, she would have genuinely been able to appreciate the beauty around them. It was gorgeous watching the morning light shine through the trees. It perfectly showcased the fresh dew that had accumulated on the grass overnight. But this wasn't a leisurely vacation. They were both in a life or death situation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Lucy looked back at Bucky; she had so many questions about him. He had swept in like an avenging angel and rescued her, and yet it appeared that he knew nothing about himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"What struck her the most was when he said that he thought he used to go by Bucky. And that scar where his soul mark had been. Someone had hurt him badly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Soul marks were considered sacred. It showed your bond with another person. The registry was new, but it helped connect soulmates and helped prevent the horrible cases of being without your soulmate because you couldn't find them./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Depending on how powerful one's bond was with their soulmate if one died, the other followed within minutes. There were even cases of soulmates who had never met, dying at almost the same time. They were rare, but they did happen. Lucy's romantic side had always thought of it as tragically romantic. But now, she wasn't so sure./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She felt sorry for whoever Bucky's soulmate was. How horrible it would be for your name to be ripped away from your soul mates body. How did you confirm that you were indeed each other's soulmate? How did you help a soulmate who was so…broken?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Lucy's thoughts chased each other around in her head, always ending with the fact that she didn't have enough information, nor brainpower to think about this right now./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He had said there would be answers in New York of all places. She could roll with that. It was a long drive from here to there, but maybe she could take this time to get to know Bucky, as a person. Help him, and help herself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He would be an interesting test of her psychology knowledge if nothing else. But he felt like more than that./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Lucy shook off her odd thoughts and curled up with her back almost touching Bucky. She felt better being close to him with the risk of danger coming at any second. She heard him sigh and then felt him curl around her, tucking her into the safety of his./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*****/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Clint piloted the quinjet, Sam sat contentedly in the co-pilot seat playing on his phone, and Steve paced in the back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sam had given up trying to tell Steve to sit down a while ago. Steve wasn't in the mood to listen to reason; he was too hopped up on the need to get any substantial lead on Bucky./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He completely ignored Sam telling him multiple times that it might not be his best friend and stayed tense and hopeful. So Sam had decided to spend his time doing something better than metaphorically beating his head against a wall, and work on some VA planning and scheduling on his phone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Clint signaled to Sam that they would be landing within the next 15 minutes. Sam sighed and put his phone away. He stretched his back, hearing it crack and pop. Sam sighed in relief and headed to the back of the quinjet to tell Steve. He found the man shifting his shield from arm to arm with impatient fingers and walking in a tight circle. For a giant man, Steve could move with a lot of grace./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sam cleared his throat, just to make sure Steve knew he was there. He wasn't sure how much his friend was in his head versus focused on his surrounding him. War veterans had a habit of not reacting well when startled, and Steve was no different./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The only time Sam had made the mistake ended up with him pressed up against a wall, with a forearm against his throat, followed by a guilt-ridden Steve following him around and constantly apologizing for the next three weeks. Not something he felt like repeating./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve froze, and his head flew up to meet Sam's eyes. He didn't say anything, but all his attention was focused on Sam./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We'll be landing in 15 Cap. The airport is called Dallas Executive Airport-RBD, and it's about 10 minutes from Lucy's apartment building. It's… a rough part of town." Sam told him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve nodded in understanding. Sam walked back up to the cockpit and sat back down beside Clint. Clint looked over at him and smirked./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yea, yea I know. When we get there, you get to babysit him while I gather info. If Steve gets involved, he'll probably scare the poor police force and any investigators they have involved."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Clint's smirk disappeared, and he sighed. "Fine but you owe me one," he said pointing a finger at Sam./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You got it," Sam said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*****/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve could hear Sam and Clint talking about him but didn't comment. They weren't wrong, and it also tightened their bonds as teammates, which was productive for all the Avengers. Sure it made him look less in control of himself when it came to Bucky, but if he was honest with himself. When it came to Bucky, he had little to no control of himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was so much built up guilt, first for not being able to save Bucky from falling in the first place and then not going back to look for him. Hydra had tortured Bucky for over 70 years, and it was his fault. He was responsible for what had happened to his best friend. So it was also his responsibility to do everything in his power to fix it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"All of this made Steve feel very out of control when he was used to being cool and collected on missions. Not emotional and stressed about what they might find. He felt it as the plan engaged it's landing procedure. He tensed up once again, then forced his muscles to relax. He would let Sam take point when talking to the investigators, but he knew Bucky the best, so he would be the one searching for evidence of his best friend's presence./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The plane landed. Steve lifted the shield and placed it against the magnetic hook on his back so that it was secure. He waited for the back hatch of the quinjet to open and allow him to exit the plane and start his search. Steve was impatient. He was tired of waiting; he had waited for years to help his friend. He wasn't going to wait any more than he already had. Not if he could help it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The quinjet's slow lowering mechanism for the back hatch did not help with his impatience. When there was finally enough room for his large frame to make it through, he headed out, not caring that the ramp was still lowering. He knew the address. He knew where he was going. He left Clint and Sam in the dust as he made his way quickly to the apartment building./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If this hadn't been a murder scene, then their small troop would be wearing street clothes and attempting to blend in, but for this mission, they needed the access that the uniform would provide. Steve made his way out of the airport, showing with his quick steps and serious face that he was on a mission and did not have time to stop./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He got looks. He knew he would; he was Captain America; there weren't many places he could go without getting noticed even if he was out of the uniform. It was easier to blend in outside New York City because people weren't expecting to see him, but it didn't always work./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He made his way out into the city and headed towards the address. Some people took photos of him, but he ignored it. Jarvis would wipe any of the devices if there were a problem./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve was not techno-savvy. He had no idea how Jarvis, phones, computers, or the internet worked. He just knew that they did and that was fine by him. He would leave the tech to Tony. He preferred doing things the old fashioned way./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve made it to the apartment complex in record time and entered. He made his way up the stairs and located Lucy's apartment. There was a young cop standing outside the apartment, looking bored as he guarded the door covered in yellow police tape. He didn't notice Steve until the captain was about 5 feet away. The kid looked up and his face blanched. His mouth gaped open as he stared. Steve just kept moving forward until he was standing in front of the kid./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The Avengers are taking over this case," Steve told him before pulling the tape off the door frame and walking into the apartment. He would have opened the door except it was dangling, broken, from its hinges./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bodies had been removed, but that was ok, they would see them later. Right now Steve wanted to focus on the crime scene itself. Get a feel for how things went down. White outlines were marking where the bodies had lain and what position they had been in. There were two in the room, both by the door. The third had been tossed out the window. He didn't see many glass shards on the floor of the apartment meaning the window had been broken from the inside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve moved around the room. It was hard to tell what happened fully without knowing what injuries were sustained by the individuals, but Steve could tell the place looked surprisingly clean. The door, the window, and a few bullet holes were the only signs of destruction. The bullet holes were interesting. They weren't that deep on inspection. The bullets had been removed but based on what Steve could see these were all ricochets. Good news for this being Bucky./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve heard footsteps behind him and saw Clint entering the room. Steve returned to his exploration of the place./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It looks like the body closest to the door was killed by his neck being snapped by being hit in the face by something with inhuman strength. The second had his throat collapsed by a hand of some sort. All of this is based on the Coroners report that sam just sent to me." Clint said, scanning his phone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""All of which points to this being Bucky. I want to see the other apartment that was broken into, as well as find out if any other apartments are empty in this building." Steve replied, looking out the broken window at the white outline of a body on the sidewalk below./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'll ask Sam to call the owners of the apartment building to find that out. The apartment that also has a broken door and window is 10C. A floor above us." Clint said, before tucking his phone away and scanning the apartment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve left him to it. He was curious about the other apartment. No bodies had been found in there, but the window had been left open, and the door was broken in./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He made his way up the stairs and into the hallway. He saw the yellow police tape and headed in that direction. The door didn't give him much information; it wasn't hard to break open doors with human strength; a well-placed kick or shoulder would do. Steve was much more focused on the window. He ducked under the tape and moved through the room. He located the window and stood in front of it. It gave him a clear line of sight to the roof on the other side of the street, where he could see another white outline of a body./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This looked like more confirmation of Bucky, but they could never be 100 percent sure with irrefutable proof, like a picture./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve pulled out his phone and spoke towards it. "Jarvis?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Here as always Captain Rogers." The disembodied voice of Jarvis replied./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It made Steve smile. For a computer, Jarvis had a very distinct personality./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Please scan all the cameras within a half a mile radius for any visual on Barnes."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course Captain Rogers," was the quick response./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve tucked his phone away and went back down to the first apartment to meet Clint. He met Clint at the door./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's your assessment?" He asked the master assassin./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whoever did this was good. Very good. No blood except for the guy with the broken neck. And very little damage to anything else. The attack was made efficiently. Any word on the girl?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve shook his head. "Her college friend, Stacy was the first one to call her in after she couldn't reach her for 24 hours. By that time they already knew her apartment had been broken into. Lucy's wallet, keys, phone and any other form of identification were found here."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So she's on the run and deep undercover." Clint hypothesized./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It looks like it," Steve confirmed. "The only problem is there is nothing, anywhere in her record to show that she had either the training or any skill in running."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So your guessing she's with Bucky?" Clint asked./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve shrugged. "I hope she is. Maybe he saved her and then just left her and she ran. I honestly don't know. I can't predict what he will do anymore. I have assumptions, guesses, and hopes. But that's about it."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Clint moved forward and clapped Steve on the back, gripping his shoulder in a brief, comforting squeeze at the end before letting go. "We'll find them." He said reassuringly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Steve sighed then nodded his head./p 


End file.
